Fallen Parsippany soldier's mother to get check from nonprofit

PARSIPPANY — James Vigilante was shocked when he learned he helped a soldier from his hometown survive a near-fatal blast.

Now Vigilante has planned a surprise for the mother of U.S. Army Sgt. Derek McConnell, who was found dead in his bed March 18 — nearly two years after an explosion that cost the soldier his legs.

Uncle Sam's Avengers Motorcycle Club will present Siobhan McConnell with a check at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Blackthorn Irish Pub & Restaurant in Parsippany.

Vigilante, the nonprofit's treasurer, declined to say how much the check will be worth because he said he wants it to be a surprise.

Derek McConnell, 23, lost both of his legs after an improvised explosive device attack in Kandahar, Afghanistan in July 2011. He also fractured his skull and right arm and sustained severe blast wounds in the blast, but he was recently recovering, learning to walk with prosthetic legs.

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Vigilante is a U.S. Air Force Reserve first sergeant. He served as an aerial porter in Kandahar military airport from June to November 2011.

After the explosion that almost killed Derek McConnell, Vigilante helped take McConnell off a helicopter at the airport. Derek McConnell was eventually brought to a nearby hospital.

Vigilante said he didn't know Derek McConnell or that he was also from Parsippany at the time. But after speaking with Derek McConnell's cousin, Brian Malgio, at a fundraiser for the soldier around Christmas 2011, Vigilante said, he realized he wasn't just working the night Derek McConnell arrived at the airport, but he helped take him off the helicopter.

Vigilante said meeting Derek McConnell the first time was emotional.

"I don't' know how to say it," Vigilante said. "Words can't describe how I felt. He and I had a little talk. He made me feel really good."